This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the presently described embodiments. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present embodiments. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
In order to meet consumer and industrial demand for natural resources, companies often invest significant amounts of time and money in finding and extracting oil, natural gas, and other subterranean resources from the earth. Particularly, once a desired subterranean resource such as oil or natural gas is discovered, drilling and production systems are often employed to access and extract the resource. These systems may be located onshore or offshore depending on the location of a desired resource.
Further, such systems generally include wellhead assemblies mounted on wells through which resources are accessed or extracted. These wellhead assemblies can include a wide variety of components, such as various spools, casings, valves, pumps, fluid conduits, and the like, that facilitate drilling or extraction operations. More particularly, wellhead assemblies often include a blowout preventer, such as a ram-type blowout preventer that uses one or more pairs of opposing rams to restrict flow of fluid through the blowout preventer. The rams typically include main bodies (or ram blocks) that receive sealing elements (or ram packers) that press together when a pair of opposing rams close against one another.
Various techniques are used to facilitate production from wells. For example, artificial lift can be used to pump fluids up wells to the surface. In accordance with one artificial lift technique, sucker-rod strings extending from the surface down into wells are used to drive operation of downhole pumps for pumping fluids to the surface. Additionally, enhanced oil recovery techniques (e.g., steam injection) can also be used to promote well production.